You can now buy single personal accident insurance for multiple vehicles

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From January 1, 2019, you will be able to buy a single personal accident insurance cover for all your vehicles. This will save you money and also the hassle of buying and renewing multiple policies for multiple vehicles.

The insurance regulator IRDAI has struck down the provision that mandated owner-drivers to purchase separate compulsory personal accident (CPA) cover for each new vehicle they bought. In industry parlance, the move is called as unbundling the CPA cover.

In September 2018, the IRDAI had raised the minimum insurance cover for owner-driver to Rs 15 lakh for an annual premium of Rs 750.

A general personal accident cover includes cover against motor accidents, if an owner-driver already has a 24 hour personal accident cover against Death and Permanent Disability (Total and Partial) of at least Rs 15 lakh. So, there is no need for a separate CPA cover to be taken, the regulator felt.

Before unbundling, a customer with multiple vehicles would have ended up buying multiple CPA cover for more than one vehicle. This was unnecessary. So, now customers will be able to save the additional Rs 750 per vehicle.

All general insurers involved in motor insurance business have been instructed to price the product in accordance with their general pricing philosophy, based on actuarial principles for the risk in question.

There is a chance that some insurers may price the CPA cover cost higher than it should be, given that they are losing multiple cover business. To address this, IRDAI has instructed insurers that if it finds the pricing approach is not in line with actuarial principles, suitable direction would be issued.

Many owner-drivers already have existing general personal accident covers.

Devendra Rane, Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Coverfox.com, says: “This is indeed a welcome move for the customers who have more than one vehicle.

Currently, as per an IRDAI circular issued in September this year, when a customer buys a policy for his car or bike, the PA (Personal Accident) cover comes as a mandatory part of the TP section for that vehicle. If she/he goes for a policy for his other car/bike, he has to again pay for the mandatory PA cover. Thus, a customer ends up making dual payment for the same coverage.

With unbundling of CPA (Compulsory Personal Accident Cover), a customer can buy a single Standalone PA policy and the same would cover his PA risks for all the vehicles owned by him/her. This would save him overall CPA premium in all his/her subsequent motor policies.

However, clarity is awaited on how customer can opt out of CPA from his/her motor policy when he already has taken a standalone PA policy.